Apr 03 2014
The Anti-Vaccination Movement and The Recent Surge in Measles
Several outbreaks of Measles in New York, Los Angeles, Orange County, and even Ontario, Canada, has brought increased attention to the anti-vaccination movement. There has also been an unusual outbreak of Mumps at Ohio State University.
The MMR or Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine to stave off these diseases is usually administered to infants. But a large percentage of the new cases are apparently tied to people who are not vaccinated. Some reports have pegged the origins of the Measles outbreaks to the Philippines where a non-vaccinated person might have contracted the disease and unwittingly brought it to the US. Countries like the Philippines and many developing nations are struggling to eradicate infectious diseases through universal vaccination.
Here in the US, while communities like the Amish have opposed vaccination on religious grounds, and poor and minority communities sometimes do not have access to vaccines, there are wealthy, educated Americans who reject vaccination based on the now-discredited link between vaccines and Autism.
GUEST: Arthur Allen, freelance writer based in Washington DC and author of Vaccine: the Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver
2 Responses to “The Anti-Vaccination Movement and The Recent Surge in Measles”
Hello Sonali,
I am a retired physician who greatly admires you and your program, “Uprising,” but I was very disappointed to hear your interview with Arthur Allen, who mislead your listeners in just about everything he said. Your show very much needed to hear an opposing view. There are very real and published concerns about the entire vaccination program.
I am writing a book on autism and related disorders and can confirm that vaccines most definitely are implicated in causing autism and a host of other medical concerns including juvenile diabetes, sudden infant death and a variety of autoimmune disorders. I’d suggest that you buy and read the highly referenced “Vaccine Safety Manual” by Neil Z. Miller. It will open your eyes to the reality of vaccine efficacy and safety.
Mr. Allen also unjustly slurred the good name of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who you should interview. He should have the ability to defend his reputation on the air. He was unjustly accused of falsifying medical records, which just wasn’t true. He can explain why there was a conspiracy to silence him. He wrote a book entitled “Callous Disregard” which details and adequately references his defense against these false allegations.
I can go over with you the real statistics re measles and the vaccine for same and its risks and benefits. The vaccine does confer 95% immunity but to just 10 of the 20 strains of measles virus, and that immunity is short lived and not life long as it is with the actual infection. In some measles outbreaks as many as 97% of the people infected have been adequately vaccinated.
You may contact me at my e-mail address above or via my cell phone at (818) 378-8029.
Hi Sonali,
In line with Dr. Alan Schwartz, M.D., I would like to ask why there was no opposing viewpoints in your show discussing vaccines.
Mike Adams of Natural News also has interesting and credible views regarding this.
I would like to hear a follow up show with some opposing/different perspectives on the vaccine question. (Dare I say debate)
Scotty Robinson